Willoughby-Eastlake District asking voters to approve renewal in November

Action has been called.
As Part 2 of 2, a meeting at
North High School in Eastlake on Thursday night Willoughby-Eastlake Superintendent Steve Thompson presented information on the state of the district and his take on why passing a renewal levy is crucial.
More than 80 people heard the presentation — 25 last week and more than 60 on Thursday evening.
He asked for support in passing the renewal levy that failed in
May.
The renewal levy on November’s ballot will generate $7,585,000 annually for five years and taxpayers will continue to pay $144.24 per $100,000 of property valuation annually, according to the Lake County Auditor’s Office.
If the levy is passed, residents affected would not notice an increase in property taxes.
If it is not passed, property taxes in the district would decrease.
However, if it is not passed before 2014 is over, Thompson said an emergency operating levy would be needed, which would not include the 12.5 percent tax rollback the government repealed this year.
The May ballot solicited a renewal that would last 10 years. Thompson said that was not to “hoodwink” voters but to reduce ballot fatigue.
“I can’t get us out of that cycle, not right now,” he said.
Included in Thompson’s talking points were the successes of the system, importance of the students’ in-classroom time, the comparison of levied taxes to other schools in the county and the ways he has worked to trim fat from the budget.
Willoughby-Eastlake has cut $13 million from the past year’s budget through staff cuts, transportation consolidation and bulk purchasing, Thompson said.
Teachers, he said, have had a pay freeze for the past five years and changes in their health care coverage that he said work out to about an 8 percent decrease in the money they take home.
In answer to an attendee, Thompson said he would plan to give teachers some of that money back if the renewal levy is passed.
In response to the comparison of the district to state minimums, Thompson said the 13-school district has six nurses, but the state minimum is one.
He said it is not safe to function at the lowest requirements recommended.
He also spoke of a plan to reserve $5 million in non-earmarked money from the $130 million budget. He said it sounds like a lot but it’s a small percentage of the overall budget and will put the system in a sound financial situation.
As for a construction project the district proposed last year, Thompson said plans to reach out for a bond are uncertain.
If the rearranging and new buildings are to happen, they will look different from originally planned.

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